


When You Wish Upon A Star (Makes No Difference; It Wasn’t The Star Anyway)

by bouquetofwhoopsiedaisies



Series: Percico Angst and Fluff Month 2020 (weeks 2 & 3) [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Sex, Fluff and Humor, Ghosts, IDK if it has a name but that kind of AU where you write on your skin and your soulmate can see it, M/M, Oral Sex, Percico Angst & Fluff Month 2020, Wishes, this one is all fluff no angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:07:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26075380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bouquetofwhoopsiedaisies/pseuds/bouquetofwhoopsiedaisies
Summary: Percy propped his chin in his hand and stared up at him from the bowl with a dopey, love-struck smile on his face. “I miss you, baby.”“I miss you too,” Nico said. “Just a few more weeks until your semester is over."Percy groaned. “‘A few more weeks’ sounds like an eternity…” he sighed and tipped his head back, looking up. Nico could just make out the faint pinpricks of starlight above him. “I wish we didn’t have to wait, and that I could be with you nowー”Suddenly Percy’s face vanished from the surface of the water, so quickly that it took Nico aback. He blinked in surprise, then sat up. “Percy?” Had the iris message cut out? No... the faint outline of part of a roof and the stars that were still there in the reflection. It was just Percy who was gone. “Percy?” Nico called again, tilting the bowl to see if he was just out of frame. He hadn’t fainted, had he?“Uh, Nico?” He nearly dropped the obsidian basin in shock when Percy’s voice came from somewhere behind him. He heard a quiet swear and a thunk, followed by a muttered, “what in hell or Hades…?”
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Series: Percico Angst and Fluff Month 2020 (weeks 2 & 3) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883434
Comments: 8
Kudos: 267
Collections: Percico Angst and Fluff Month 2020





	When You Wish Upon A Star (Makes No Difference; It Wasn’t The Star Anyway)

**Author's Note:**

> Again, for this month-long event, I’ll be posting 2 of the 4 works (weeks 1 and 4) on my general content account (WildWolf25) and 2 works (weeks 2 and 3) here on my NSFW account. 
> 
> Week 3 prompts were: Wish | “I can’t sleep” | Soulmate ability. For soulmate ability, I went with “You see everything your soulmate writes on their skin”
> 
> In this, Percy is 23 and studying at University of New Rome, and Nico is 21 (he decided not to do college and works for Hades doing Underworld stuff). Let’s say they didn’t get together until they were both adults.
> 
> ~~The title is so fucking stupid…~~

Nico rubbed a black towel over his hair as he left the en-suite bathroom of his rooms at his father’s palace. People could say what they wanted about the dark interior design, the skull-shaped sconces, and the smooth black marble tiles, but at least the Lord of the Underworld knew how to make an opulent bathroom. The black marble bathtub was practically big enough to swim in, and there was never any shortage of hot water (probably because the water was heated by the fires of hell, but still). After years of living here on and off between being the ambassador for both camps, and now living here more permanently since becoming too old for camp, Nico had grown accustomed to the peculiar interior design choices at the palace. 

He opened the dresser drawers and was reading for his pajamas when he saw the writing appear on his left wrist: _hi_ _♡_

Nico smiled to himself. He pulled on his pajama pants and zipped up Percy’s high school swim team sweatshirt, then went to the antique ebony and gold writing desk in the corner and located a pen. He wrote on his wrist underneath the first message: _hi_ ♥

Another message appeared quickly after that, and he watched the letters appear stroke by stroke. _I miss you._

 _Miss you too,_ Nico wrote. He flopped down on his bed with a pillow tucked under his chest and the pen in his hand, awaiting the next message. 

_Can I IM you?_ The next message said. _My brain is_ _~~fryed~~ _ _fried from midterms... + dislexya... + I miss your face._

Nico resisted the urge to chuckle. Just because they lived in a world where soulmates could write on each other’s skin, that didn’t mean it was any easier for demigods to communicate. If anything, the absence of spell-check on one’s skin meant that romantic messages sometimes earned a puzzled squint and DaVinci-code-worthy deciphering. Still, it was better than carrying around a monster-attracting cellphone. But while writing to your soulmate on your skin was nice, nothing could beat face-to-face conversation through an iris message.

 _Yeah,_ Nico wrote back. _I miss your face too._ He set the pen down on the bedside table and went to fetch the shallow obsidian bowl of water perched on the dresser and a stack of golden drachmas. They were always easy to find in the Underworld, which was good because their iris-message sessions tended to last hours. 

Nico had just sat the basin on his bedside table and laid down again with a pillow tucked under his chest when the _ping_ came through, like a droplet hitting the water in a cartoon. A bored-sounding voice intoned _“Iris message for Nico di Angelo, from Perseus Jackson. To answer, please deposit one drachma.”_

Nico dropped one golden coin into the water, which vanished before it could even strike the bottom of the shallow basin. When the ripples cleared, he found a familiar face set with seaglass-green eyes and wild, dark hair grinning back at him. 

“Hey, Nico,” Percy greeted him.

“Hi,” Nico smiled. “How did your midterms go?”

Percy groaned theatrically. “I think I did okay, except maybe Calc. I don’t even know why I have to keep studying math in college. Wasn’t twelve years enough?” 

“Well, have you learned anything you didn’t know in those twelve years?” Nico asked. 

Percy frowned and looked off to the side for a minute. “I hate your logic,” he muttered. 

Nico hid his laugh in his pillow. That seemed to catch Percy’s attention.

“Are you in bed?” He asked. When Nico nodded, his expression shifted to apologetic. “Oh, did I wake you up?” 

“No, I had just gotten out of the bath when I saw your message,” Nico explained, holding up his arm. The writing would stay there until one of them washed it away. He tucked his arm under his chin and peered at the image in the bowl. “It looks dark there. Are you going to sleep?” 

“Nah. I can’t sleep.” Percy gave him a lopsided smile. “Can’t stop thinking about you.”

Nico smiled at the sweet sentiment, then noticed something behind Percy and leaned closer to the water, squinting. “Is that a roof?”

“Ah, yeah,” Percy admitted, looking abashed. “I’m actually on the roof of the dorm building.” When Nico gave him a curious look, he went on, “Okay, your cute face wasn’t the only thing keeping me awake; I finished my exams today, but Jason’s got one more tomorrow. He’s studying in our dorm room. I didn’t want to bother him.” 

“Smart.” Nico nodded. Jason and Percy had quickly become fast friends, but as two seniors in college rapidly approaching graduation, the pair were not immune to throwing things at each other if their focus was broken by some distraction during exam week. 

Percy propped his chin in his hand and stared up at him from the bowl with a dopey, love-struck smile on his face. “I miss you, baby.”

Even after a few years of dating, such blatant words of affection still made Nico’s insides flutter like his stomach was full of little skeletal butterflies. “I miss you too,” Nico said. “Just a few more weeks until your semester is over, and then we can take our road trip to New York and see your mom.” It had been Percy’s idea; Nico had offered to just shadow-travel them, but Percy insisted it was some iconic college-graduate dream that he wanted to fulfill, driving across the country and seeing weird off-road tourist traps and camping under the stars at night. Nico didn’t quite get it, but he’d look forward to anything with Percy. 

Percy groaned. “ _‘A few more weeks’_ sounds like an eternity…” he sighed and tipped his head back, looking up. Nico could just make out the faint pinpricks of starlight above him. “I wish we didn’t have to wait, and that I could be with you _nowー_ ” 

Suddenly Percy’s face vanished from the surface of the water, so quickly that it took Nico aback. He blinked in surprise, then sat up. “Percy?” Had the iris message cut out? They usually allowed for more time than that... He reached for another drachma, but then he noticed the faint outline of part of a roof and the stars that were still there in the reflection. It was just Percy who was gone. “Percy?” Nico called again, tilting the bowl to see if he was just out of frame. He hadn’t fainted, had he? Or fallen off the roof?

“Uh, Nico?” He nearly dropped the obsidian basin in shock when Percy’s voice came from somewhere behind him. He heard a quiet swear and a thunk, followed by a muttered, “what in hell or Hades…?”

Nico swung his legs off the bed and ran over to the bathroom, throwing open the door. There, standing in a puddle in the huge black marble bathtub, dressed in dolphin-patterned pajama pants and a University of New Rome t-shirt, was none other than Percy Jackson, looking completely and utterly confused. “ _Nico_? What are you doing here?”

“This is my bathroom?” Nico was so stunned, it came out more like a question than a statement. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“I have no idea. Did you shadow-travel me?” Percy asked.

“No, I would have had to have been touching you,” Nico explained, stepping into the bathroom. 

Percy looked down at his wet socked feet standing in a puddle of water that hadn’t escaped down the drain. “...Did I _water-travel_?” he whispered, amazed. 

Nico bit his lip to keep from smiling at that. “I don’t think that’s a thing,” he said, holding out a hand to help his boyfriend out of the tub. 

“But then what _else_ could it have been…?” Percy accepted the hand and climbed up the marble bench, his socks squishing with every step. He looked up suddenly, realizing something. “Wait. The last thing I said was that I wished I could be with you, and I was looking at the stars when I said it. I wished upon a star!”

“I’ve never heard of that being real…” Nico said slowly. 

“Do you have a better explanation?” Percy arched an eyebrow. “And really, is that any crazier than anything else in our lives?”

“Fair point,” Nico admitted. Percy let go of his hand to peel off his wet socks. Nico cleared his throat. “So, uh, do you need to get back soon? I can shadow-travel you back, if you were busy or something.”

Percy patted his pockets. “I’ve got my dorm key and my wallet. All I left behind was a pair of sandals and the tupperware of water I used for my iris message. I doubt anyone will climb up to the roof to steal that, so I can stay for a while.” 

Nico raised a brow and gave him a flat look. “You called me from a tupperware?” 

“I am but a poor college student, Neeks,” Percy fake-pouted. “Not all of us have fancy antique dishes just lying around.” 

Nico rolled his eyes and took his hand. “Well, now that you’re here, we might as well enjoy ourselves.” 

“Oh?” Percy perked up at that. “What did you have in mind?”

“If you don’t have any other plans, you could stay the night,” Nico said, leading him over to his bed. 

“If I’d have known I’d be staying the night, I might have worn something a little sexier…” Percy looked down at himself. Especially at the dolphin-printed pajama pants that were a Christmas present from his mom. 

“I think the point of ‘sexy’ would be to take them off,” Nico pointed out as he cut the iris message connection and moved the obsidian dish of water off of the bedside table. 

Percy’s eyes widened. “Oh. Wow. Uh.”

Nico arched a brow at him as he set the dish on the dresser again. “Or did you not want to do that?”

“No, I do,” Percy said carefully. He looked around like he expected a ghost or skeleton to suddenly pop out from behind the furniture. Which was a definite possibility in _other_ parts of Hades’s palace, but Nico had his ways of keeping the dead out of his bedroom. “It’s just, this is technically your dad’s house, right? Isn’t that a little… weird?”

Nico snorted and pulled Percy down onto the bed. “His rooms are at the other end of the palace, so I doubt he’d hear. And anyway, he and Persephone are up on the surface for a date. Hiking some mountain in the-middle-of-nowhere northern Japan or something, that’s haunted by nearly two hundred soldiers who died trying to cross it in winter. This time of year, it has enough greenery and flowers for her tastes, and enough ghosts for his tastes. And since it’s on the other side of the world, they’ll be hiking all day ー or for us, all night.”

“I did not think Hades was the hiking type,” Percy said, looking baffled by this revelation.

Nico shrugged. “After a certain someone told off the gods for their parenting skills, he decided to try to be a better father and a better husband. We have family dinners now. And they have date nights once a month during the winter, and trips up to the surface every spring and fall.”

“Huh,” Percy said. “Interesting. I’m not sure what to do with this information.”

“You could stop thinking about my dad and stepmom, and start thinking about other things,” Nico pointed out.

A slow smile spread over Percy’s lips. “Oh yeah? Like what?” 

“Like,” Nico said slowly, rolling them both so that he was sitting on top of Percy’s hips and leaning down to be _just_ out of reach of his lips. “How I can reward you for finishing your exams, maybe.”

Percy grinned, his eyes heated. “I like the rewarding idea. Would rather not think about exams anymore, though.” He slipped his hands around Nico’s waist, fingers playing with the hem of his sweatshirt. “I like your hoodie. Where’d you get it?” He asked with a teasing glint in his eye. 

Nico snorted softly. “My boyfriend gave it to me.” As if Nico would acquire a sea-blue hoodie that said _SWIM TEAM_ in cracked white letters across the front from anywhere else. “I’ll tell him you like it.”

Percy chuckled and reached up to slide the zipper down a few inches, revealing his bare chest. “And nothing underneath? Do you always sleep like this, or did you know I was coming?”

“It’s comfy,” Nico admitted. The sweatshirt was a little big on him and the sleeves fell over his hands, but he liked how soft and warm the fabric was, and how it somehow always smelled like Percy. “And I really have no idea how you got here.” 

“Apparently I have magic wishes now,” Percy teased, which earned him an eye-roll. “What else should I wish for, hm?” He tapped his lips as if in thought. “Ah, I know. I wish my boyfriend would kiss me.” 

Nico arched an eyebrow at him, then rolled his eyes and bent down to kiss him. 

“See? Magic wishesー” Percy said into the kiss.

“Shut up,” Nico kissed him harder to get him to do just that.

Percy chuckled and slid his hands up the back of Nico’s sweatshirt, palms hot against his bare back as he pulled him closer. Nico rolled his hips against Percy’s and swallowed the moan that escaped him. It wasn’t long before Percy was flipping them so that Nico was the one spread out on the bed and he was over him. He broke the kiss to sit up on his knees and pull his t-shirt off over his head, dropping it over the side of the bed. Nico reached for the zipper of his hoodie, but Percy caught his hands and pinned them to the bed on either side of his head. “Leave that.” He grinned, his green eyes dark and heated. “I like seeing you wear it.” 

Nico frowned up at him ( _not_ a pout, despite what Percy might claim). “I’m going to get hot.” 

“You’re already the hottest person in the Underworld,” Percy said, but he unzipped the hoodie so that the two sides fell open, baring Nico’s pale chest. 

“Considering there’s only two of us alive down here, that’s not saying much,” Nico said dryly. 

Percy chuckled and leaned down to kiss him again. One of his hands slid down Nico’s chest. Nico typically ran cold, so Percy’s palm felt like fire against his skin ー hot and heavy and burning him in the best way as it stoked the coals of arousal in his own chest and between his hips. He gasped, and Percy pulled away to kiss along the pale column of his throat. 

“Can I leave marks?” He asked, the murmur vibrating against his throat like electricity. Percy loved to leave marks where Nico could feel them for days after, reminding him of their time together. And, being soulmates, any marks that Percy left on Nico would appear on him as well, albeit without the tender sting when touched. 

“Nowhere visible,” Nico replied, linking his arms around the back of Percy’s neck and hooking a leg around his waist to grind their hips together. Percy pouted at that, but didn’t argue. Nico was grateful; he liked wearing Percy’s marks as much as Percy did, but he really hated the knowing smirk those hickies earned him from Persephone, and the disappointed-yet-resigned look he would always get when Hades spotted them (“ _really? Out of all the men in the world, you had to pick the son of Poseidon?”_ ). Not to mention, ghosts were a surprisingly gossipy lot; he had a hard time getting them to listen to him when they were snickering at every hickey on his neck.

Percy shifted down and kissed his way across Nico’s chest, pausing to nip at the skin and suck a dark red mark on the left side of his chest, right over his heart. Nico arched up into his touch, biting his lip to suppress the moan that climbed up his throat. 

“Hey, none of that,” Percy chided, callused fingers pinching his right nipple in reprimand. “You said we’ve got this place to ourselves? I want to hear _everything_ from you.”

“ _Ah!_ Percy…” Nico gasped. “Come on, stop teasing me…” 

“You say teasing, I say taking my sweet time and enjoying this to the fullest.” Percy flashed him a wicked grin before licking a broad stripe up the side of Nico’s throat and burying his nose in dark locks. “Fuck, Neeks, you smell _so_ good right now. What is that? Oranges?”

“Pomegranate soap,” Nico replied. “I took a bath just before you showed up.”

He felt a puff of air against his neck as Percy chuckled at the scent choice (it wasn’t Nico’s fault; Persephone was in charge of the housekeeping harpies). “I saw that bathtub. It’s practically the size of a small pool. I definitely want to take a bath with you before I go.”

“Of course you do, you’re addicted to water.” Nico rolled his eyes, but he had to admit that sounded appealing. The whole room hot and steamed up, feeling the slide of wet skin on skin, maybe the chilly hardness of the marble contrasting sharply with the heat of their bodies as they fucked in the tub… or, hell, even just relaxing in the bath together, but Nico’s brain was stuck in horny-mode, probably because Percy was practically laying fully over him and grinding their hips together with maddening slowness as he kissed every breath out of Nico. It had been _far_ too long since they had last seen each other, between Percy’s classes and Nico’s Underworld duties. The fevered kissing left him so lightheaded, he scarcely noticed Percy’s hand trailing lower down his chest, tracing scars and battle-honed lean muscles and the dip below his ribcage… Then Percy slipped his hand below the waistband of Nico’s pajama pants and wrapped his fingers around his more-than-half-hard cock, and Nico had to throw back his head and bite his lip to keep from coming right then and there. “ _Oh!_ ” 

“Commando, huh?” Percy chuckled against his jaw. “Naughty Nico…” 

“I was planning on _going to sleep_ ,” Nico defended himself. It was _really_ hard to think with Percy’s hand wrapped around his cock. His thumb swept over the head and Nico cried out, practically seeing stars. “Oh gods, Percy, I’m gonna come if you keep doing that,” he warned.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Percy asked, voice all full of false innocence. 

“I’d rather come with you inside of me.” Nico squirmed, not sure if he wanted to move away or closer. 

Percy’s smirk slipped in astonishment and his pupils were so wide they practically swallowed the sea-green in darkness. “ _Fuck_ , Nico…” he swore under his breath, slipping his hand out of Nico’s pants. “Do you have lube?”

Nico nodded and twisted around to reach the ebony bedside table. He couldn’t quite reach it with Percy sitting on his hips, so the other man rose up so that he could open the drawer and sift through the contents. Percy took the opportunity to slide Nico’s pajama pants down his legs, leaving him bare aside from the unzipped hoodie. 

When Nico located the small black amphora, he tossed it to Percy, who caught it and uncorked it. “Olive oil?” He asked, skeptical at the warm scent that rose out of it once opened.

“A form of it,” Nico said. “Worked fine enough for the ancient Greeks.”

Percy shrugged. “Good point.” He started to tip some of the oil onto his fingers, but Nico poked him in the thigh with his foot. 

“Take those ridiculous things off,” he said of the blue pajama pants covered in cartoon dolphins. 

“What, you don’t like ‘em?” Percy laughed, but obligingly re-corked the amphora and dropped it onto the bed beside them as he reached for the waistband of his pants. 

“They would look better on my floor,” Nico told him. He was half-joking when he said it, but Percy froze and a blush darkened his cheeks. Nico wanted to laugh; he could dish it out, but he couldn’t take it? 

Percy stripped his pants and boxers off in record time and kicked them over the side of the bed. Nico went to hand him the oil again, but Percy must have had other ideas, because he bent down to drop a line of kisses across Nico’s stomach. It was _Nico’s_ turn to blush; he was still a little self-conscious about his body, as a lifetime of being on the run and fighting monsters had left its mark on him even after they were done fighting wars. He had always been a little on the scrawny side, and while he was strong and packed with long, lean muscles, he hadn’t bulked up as much as Percy or the other campers who spent their summers training. On top of it all, he had more than his fair share of scars (but then again, so did Percy. So did most demigods, really). He didn’t ー and probably wouldn’t ever ー have Percy’s washboard abs or toned biceps or sun-tanned skin. Luckily, though, Percy didn’t seem to mind, based on the way he was kissing him and cradling a thigh in each hand, practically _worshipping_ him with a reverence Nico wasn’t sure he deserved. 

“Can I suck you off, baby?” Percy asked, close enough for Nico to feel his breath on his cock. “Just a little? I want to taste you…” 

How was he supposed to say no to that? “Y-yeah,” Nico said, feeling like a live wire that started sparking as Percy wrapped his lips around him and sank down, his fingers encircling the base. Nico threw back his head and cried out, back arching as a wave of pleasure raced down his spine and ignited a fire between his hips. 

Percy bobbed his head and hollowed his cheeks and did something positively sinful with his tongue, but just when Nico was about to race over the edge, he pulled off with a _pop_. “Can’t have you come too quickly,” he said, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. 

Nico opened his mouth to tell him off, but all that came out was a choked gasp as Percy slipped a lubed-up finger inside him before leaning down to swallow his cock once more. He drove him right up to that precipice again, and again, each time pulling off _just_ before he could send him over the edge and instead stretching him while his impending orgasm simmered down like a wave rolling back out to sea, only to rise again. By the fourth time, Nico’s toes were curled from the effort of not coming at the slightest touch, and he threaded his fingers into Percy’s hair to tug on him, _hard._ “Percy, _please_!” He couldn’t take much more of this.

There was a satisfied little smirk on Percy’s lips as he laid one last kiss to the slick, twitching shaft before pulling back and drawing his fingers out. He poured more oil onto his hand and slicked himself up, groaning at finally getting some relief to his aching, hard cock. When he finally ー _finally_ ー pushed inside, Nico’s head fell back against the bed and a deep moan pulled itself out of his chest; Percy was so _big_ and he always filled Nico so perfectly, like their bodies were made to be together. 

Lips against his pulled Nico out of his thoughts and his hands came up to tangle in dark locks as he kissed him back hungrily, like he was a starving man in the desert and Percy was an oasis of food and water.

Percy pulled back just enough to look down at him, green eyes alight with heat. “You good?” 

Nico nodded eagerly and rolled his hips up. “Go on. I’m ready.” 

Percy pressed another kiss to his already-tender lips before drawing his hips back, until just the tip was inside. For a heartbeat or two, Nico felt achingly empty all the way up to his chest ー a feeling that was soon assuaged as Percy snapped his hips forward, burying himself in to the hilt. He set a quick pace, letting the waves of pleasure build up inside them both like stormy seas. Nico dragged him down to kiss him again, and the change in angle let Percy strike his prostate with every thrust. He cried out as heat raced up his spine, but the sound was swallowed by eager lips. Seized with a need to be even closer than they already were, Nico dug his fingers into the backs of Percy’s shoulders, surely leaving small, crescent-moon-shaped divots in Percy’s skin (and probably his own, too).

Percy’s lips left his, only to trail along his jaw and over to his throat, near his ear. “Go on,” he murmured, hot breath sending a shiver down Nico’s spine. “Wanna feel you later. Want us to both be able to look in the mirror and see our marks, a reminder of how good I gave it to you.” He punctuated his words with an especially hard thrust to Nico’s prostate, and the Ghost King cried out and dragged his fingers down Percy’s back, uncaring of the red welts he raised in his wake, as he grabbed Percy’s ass to haul him closer. Percy groaned at the slight sting and lightly bit the sensitive skin above his collarbone, sucking a mark that might just barely count as below the collar.

It didn’t take long to send them both over the edge, after that. They were both pent-up after weeks of being apart, and the second Percy wrapped a hand around Nico’s cock, he came with a loud cry of Percy’s name. Percy managed only a couple more thrusts into Nico’s tightening heat before he too came, burying his groan in the side of Nico’s neck. 

Panting as if he had just run a race, it was all Percy could do to not collapse as he lowered himself to lay on his boyfriend’s chest, his now-soft cock still warm inside him. Nico let out a grunt in mock protest and patted his back. “Do I look like a pillow to you, Mister Kelp Head?”

“Mmhm,” Percy nodded, or perhaps nuzzled against his chest with a smile. “You’re like, one of those cooling blankets made for summer. And I’m like one of those weighted blankets that help with sensory overload and stuff.” 

Nico snorted quietly. He couldn’t argue with that; he was very familiar with the way a casual touch could make his hair stand on end, but when Percy wrapped him up in a bone crushing hug he felt inexplicably safe. “Kinda wish my weighted blanket wasn’t so gods-damned sweaty,” he grumbled without any real malice or upset. 

“Gimme a minute,” Percy pushed his face into Nico’s chest like a kid trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep before having to get up for school. Nico chuckled, enjoying the way the rumble in his chest made Percy’s nose scrunch up, and was content to lay there and trail his fingers up and down the length of Percy’s spine, feeling his muscles and the steady rise and fall as he breathed. Percy, in turn, was content to listen to the way the beat of Nico’s heart steadied and slowed as he relaxed. 

After a few minutes, though, Nico patted him. “Come on, up, before we stick together and get all gross.” He lifted an eyebrow as his absolute child of a boyfriend groaned and turned his face into his chest like he was hiding. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to take a bath together?”

Percy sighed. “You do have the fanciest bathroom I’ve ever seen…” He pushed himself up, both of them wincing at the sticky pull of half-dried fluids and sweat on their skin. His soft cock finally slipped out of Nico and they both shivered at the sensation.

Nico rolled out of bed with a wince at the slight soreness he felt already setting in. “Come on, I know you’re really dating me for my bathtub.” 

“I didn’t even know you had a swimming pool in your bathroom until I magically teleported into it tonight,” Percy protested. He reached for Nico’s hand as they walked, and Nico let him weave their fingers together, giving him a squeeze; Percy was always very tactile after sex and while it had taken Nico a while to get used to that, he enjoyed the contact just as much as Percy now.

Despite the size of the huge, black marble tub, it didn’t take long to fill it. Nico stripped off his hoodie (he _still_ couldn’t believe he let Percy talk him into wearing it the whole time… now he would have to wash it and it was Percy’s own fault if Nico didn’t let him leave until it was clean and smelled like him again). While Nico fetched a couple of clean towels and washcloths from the cabinet, Percy poked around the bathroom, looking at the gold faucets and the skull-shaped sconces with equal parts awe and aversion. 

“Are these real?” He asked, pointing to one of the sconces. 

Nico gave him a long look. “If I say no, would you believe me?” 

Percy looked thoughtful for a minute, then squinted critically at the skull (which, yes, was real ー Hades wasn’t one to dance around the concept of death). Percy sighed and shrugged, turning away. “Whatever, I guess Hamlet can oggle my bare ass if he wants to,” he said, wading into the tub. 

“The skull in the play is Yorrick. Hamlet is the one that talks to it,” Nico pointed out. Not to mention, those particular skulls were in his father’s study, not this bathroom. “Also, these are just bones. Bones don’t have life in them; after the soul leaves the body, the bones are inanimate. They wouldn’t do anything unless I reanimate them, and even then they aren’t really alive.” 

“Please don’t do that anyway,” Percy winced. “On the battlefield is one thing. In the bathroom is another entirely.”

“Agreed.” Nico nodded. He glanced at himself in the mirror, just barely able to make out the long red lines on his back between the wisps of steam filling up the room. “Wow, I really did a number on your back.” He reached over his shoulder to prod at one of the red lines, but there was no pain on his end. 

“You did,” Percy offered him a lopsided smile. “But I liked it.” 

“Masochist,” Nico teased, wading into the water. 

“Only for you, baby,” Percy extended an arm, and Nico slid onto the marble bench beside him and tucked himself into his embrace. Percy sighed happily and relaxed as the hot water and steam enveloped them both. He trailed his fingers up and down Nico’s arm, deep in thought. “I wish I knew what it was that sent me here,” he said finally. 

“Are you going to keep saying ‘I wish’ until you figure out if you have magic wishes or not?” Nico chuckled. 

“Well, I can’t think of anything else it could have been,” Percy said. 

“Mm, me neither. Guess we may never know.” Nico slipped an arm around his waist. In the water, their messages on their arms were beginning to wash away, but the marks from their lovemaking would stay a while yet. “But you know, you can just iris-message or write me and I’ll come shadow-travel to see you, or bring you somewhere. Even just for a few minutes.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer more,” Percy said, leaning down to kiss him again. Nico smiled into the kiss; he didn’t know what force was responsible for sending Percy right to him that night, but he was certainly grateful. 

~~~~~~~

Until Persephone heard a little _ping_ sound come from one of her earrings (skull-shaped white opal with red ruby flowers for eyes, her own design made by Hephaestus), the Queen of the Underworld had completely forgotten that she hadn’t turned off her palace security notifications. They had gotten a lot more strict about Underworld security ever since the Doors of Death incident, so she usually got updates on incoming calls and door security fielded to her earrings (since her husband usually had his hands full dealing with the dead). 

Keeping her eye on her husband (who was arguing with a ghost, predictably), she tapped her earring to listen to the notification. _Iris message for Nico di Angelo, from Perseus Jackson. To answer, please deposit one drachma…_ Ah, she would just let Nico pick it up, she thought.

“I _really_ don’t care about the nobility of your expedition,” Hades was telling the ghost, who despite the sunny day was dressed in a turn-of-the-20th-century military overcoat, fur hat, and straw boots. “I just want to know which trail we are on.” He pointed at the paper trail map he was holding. 

“Can’t turn back… Must turn back…” the ghost mumbled, shivering. “Blizzard’s coming… Night is falling…”

“It’s noon, in April, and not a cloud in the sky,” Hades shot back dryly. “The view from the top must be lovely, so if you could let us know which trailー”

“Please, take my rifle…” the soldier pleaded. “Return it to my brother…”

“I don’t want your damned rifle,” Hades rubbed his forehead. The soldier looked downright offended and hurt by that. Hades sighed and turned around, exasperated. “Persephone, could you help? You’re better with people and their damned emotions.”

Another _ping_ from her earring, and Persephone remembered she still hadn’t turned off her notifications. “I think you’re doing just fine, dear,” she said, only half paying attention as she twisted her earring to turn them off. 

_“I miss you, baby…”_ Percy’s voice came through, far closer to her ear than she wished the little half-blood’s voice to be. Oops, twisted the wrong way. Ah, Styx, and now the back was caught in her hair… 

“A rifle is a soldier’s soul…” The poor soldier was saying, holding out his rifle with shaking, translucent hands turned purple with frostbite. “Please, bring it to my brother…”

“It is not your soul, trust me, I am the expert on souls,” Hades muttered. “You don’t keep souls in inanimate objects. How would that even work?” 

_“I miss you too,”_ Nico was saying. _“Just a few more weeks until your semester is over…”_

“Look, just tell us which trail we are onー”

“They tried to swim the river over yonder, back to the barracks… but the rapids…”

Oh for gods’ sake, she had sappy twenty-somethings in one ear and bickering undead in the other. 

_“A few more weeks sounds like an eternity…”_ Percy was saying, and she wanted to gag. As if those mortal half-bloods knew what eternity was. _“I wish we didn’t have to wait, and that I could be with you nowー”_

“Persephone, would you _please_ help meー”

Finally fed up, Persephone snapped her fingers to send her stepson’s boyfriend to the palace, twisted her earring to switch it off, and fixed her lips into a smile so sharp it could cut diamonds as she marched over to her husband and the unfortunate ghost soldier. “Oh brave little soldier, my condolences about your fate. Now, you mentioned a river? What is the name of the river?”

“The Komagome-gawa, my lady,” the soldier smiled for a moment, then his face fell as he pointed down the valley. “It flows back to the barracks… they tried to swim, butー”

“Yes, the rapids, you mentioned them.” Persephone studied the map and located the river. “We’re on the right trail. This way, dear.” She took hold of her husband’s hand and set off down the trail.

“But, the ghostー?” Hades looked back, where the soldier was still shivering in the sunlight.

“What, did you want to bring him home as a souvenir?” Persephone asked. “This isn’t the worst place to wander for eternity. Now come on, I want to see the hot springs all the ghosts keep mentioning. Just because they never made it there doesn’t mean we can’t.” She ignored the anguished wail from the ghost-soldier and kept heading up the path. Maybe they could spend the night at that lovely mountainside hot spring resort, so they didn’t have to risk returning to the Underworld while Nico’s boyfriend was still around.

**Author's Note:**

> This week on “obscure references no one will get or care about”, the place Hades and Persephone go hiking is the Hakkoda Mountains, a lovely group of murder mountains famous for beautiful yet eerie snow monsters, scenic yet deadly marshlands, and the site of the worst mountaineering disaster in modern history. ✌
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you liked it, and please be sure to check out the other two works I did for this event on my other account: WildWolf25


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